Married at First Sight alum Doug Hehner overdosed on opioids almost 12 years in the past — however he solely simply informed his spouse, Jamie Otis, the story.
“We’re recording the podcast and by some means [it] at all times turns into a remedy session for us,” Otis, 37, mentioned in a tearful Instagram video on Thursday, July 27. “The five-star assessment [a listener submitted], somebody talked about the lack of her brother from medication after which it simply induced Doug to really feel like he may open up just a little bit extra about all that he was going by way of and a time that he virtually died from his drug dependancy that I didn’t even find out about.”
Otis — who married Hehner, 39, throughout season 1 of Married at First Sight in 2014 — broke down in tears as she recapped what they spoke about on their “Sizzling Marriage Cool Dad and mom” podcast.
“I at all times knew my hubby was hiding one thing from me – I didn’t know precisely what although,” Otis — who shares two kids with Hehner — captioned her Instagram add. “I keep in mind a time throughout the holidays that I used to be along with his household & they mentioned ‘When Doug’s able to inform you, he’ll.’ I requested Doug what on earth they have been speaking about however in fact, he didn’t say. I felt like an outsider wanting in. It harm to know there was some form of secret that nobody needed to inform me.”
Doug Hehner and Jamie Otis MediaPunch/Shutterstock
Otis continued: “Little did I do know — my hubby was solely hiding bc he was ashamed. He felt responsible. He felt embarrassed. And his household was defending him. It’s taken us almost a decade, however my husband informed me every little thing. … I’m so happy with my hubby. He’s not hiding. He’s free. And I can see his real happiness.”
Through the Wednesday, July 26, episode of their podcast, Hehner detailed his dependancy battle.
“There was one time the place my sister needed to wake me up as a result of she heard me coughing in my sleep,” he recalled. “I don’t know if I ever talked about this [to you, Jamie]. … This was dangerous. Being ashamed of one thing for therefore lengthy and never eager to carry it up, it’s actually troublesome [because] you wish to black out loads of the dangerous issues that occurred.”
Courtesy of Jamie Otis/Instagram
Hehner — who was dwelling along with his mother and father on the time — was gurgling in his sleep, which nervous his sister. By the point he awakened, a police officer and an EMT have been standing above him. “I used to be unresponsive and [had] shallow respiratory, from what they mentioned,” he recalled. “However I wasn’t waking up.”
As he remembered seeing his mother and father’ faces from contained in the ambulance on his strategy to the hospital, Hehner broke down in tears. “I used to be simply grateful to be alive, how shut it may have been to not being right here,” he mentioned. “I haven’t thought of that shortly.”
Otis chimed in, noting that regardless of “9 and half years married” she didn’t know the depths of Doug’s struggles and shared her assist for her partner. She defined that his story was not a shameful one as a result of “dependancy is a illness.”
Hehner is presently sober and defined in Wednesday’s episode that he’s midway by way of the method of weaning off Suboxone, a prescription medicine used to deal with adults with an opioid dependancy.
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When you or anybody you realize is going through substance abuse points, name the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration’s Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 at no cost and confidential data 24/7.